CAGW Decries President Obama’s Latest Executive Overreach

April 15, 2016 03:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) reacted with indignation to
President Obama’s announcement that he issued an executive
order effectively requiring the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to approve proposed rules mandating outdated technical
requirements on cable and satellite set-top boxes. President Obama’s
abuse of power has already become legendary, but issuing an executive
order during an open comment period for rulemaking at an independent
agency will be prominently displayed in the “Executive Overreach Hall of
Shame.”

The executive order comes one week before the April 22, 2016 end of the
comment period for the AllVid notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). By
issuing the order, President Obama is directly interfering with the
internal workings of an agency that is supposed to make decisions
independently of either Congress or the White House. He is also
effectively stifling the First Amendment right to petition the
government by predetermining the outcome of the NPRM and telling the FCC
to ignore any negative public comments on the proposed rule.

By telling independent agencies they are “strongly encouraged to comply”
with the executive order, President Obama is giving the FCC the green
light to move ahead and dictate technical
standards on set-top boxes, and release proprietary information
regarding software, programming, guides, and video guides to third-party
box manufacturers. Such mandates are ill-advised because most cable
providers are moving away from the use of these boxes, and implementing
software applications that can be used on any device, at any time, in
any location.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said, “President Obama apparently has decided
that his previous effort to interfere with the decision-making process
at the FCC, when he pushed the commissioners behind closed doors to
impose Title II Net Neutrality rules on the Internet, was too subtle.
This time he used his absolute power to make it absolutely clear that
they should absolutely do what he wants. President Obama should
reconsider his decision on this matter, withdraw the order, and allow
the process to move forward independently under the FCC’s regular
process. It is time for him to start listening to taxpayers instead of
treating them like subjects in a kingdom.”